Burk, Christopher R
2009-11-18 01:58:06 UTC
November 17, 2009
Seventh Annual Fear and Loathing in Dallas
Invitation to the University of Texas at Dallas Intercollegiate Debate Tournament
Dear Colleagues,
We present the following conditional tournament. The University of Texas at Dallas Debate Team invites you to join us January 9-11, 2010 for the seventh annual Fear and Loathing in Dallas Intercollegiate Debate Tournament. Yes, somehow we still get to do this.
Our tournament will be the second half of the Texas Two Step. The University of North Texas will host the first half. Teams attending both tournaments will have Friday, January 8th as a day off to relocate, rest, and research.
We will offer debates in three divisions (open, junior varsity, and novice). We expect all three divisions to be large enough to remain distinct this season. However, we will collapse the Novice division into the Junior Varsity division if necessary. Please complete all entries by 12:00 noon on Wednesday, January 6, 2010. We will submit final orders for all food purchases that afternoon so correct information by the entry deadline is necessary. We will also need to close entries into order to begin the judge preference process. We definitely need final entries for both TEAMS and JUDGES by noon of January 6. Please use the famous Bruschke system for entering the teams and the judges. You can find that system here: http://commweb.fullerton.edu/jbruschke/web/Index.aspx
ENTRY LIMITS: UT Dallas is experiencing a shortage of suitable classrooms. Therefore the UT Dallas Debate Team must unfortunately impose an entry limit of ninety (100) total teams at this time. There is a good chance that we might be able to secure access to a few more rooms but we cannot guarantee it at this moment. So we must impose an entry cap. Entries will be first come, first serve regardless of division until we reach our cap. So please enter as soon as possible. If we do secure access to more rooms and raise the cap, we will send emails to inform everyone of the change.
FORMAT: There will be seven preliminary debates in the Open division with the tab room randomly assigning the sides to each team in round seven. The Junior Varsity and Novice divisions will have six preliminary debates. The schedule has changed slightly so be sure to examine the tournament schedule located at the end of this document.
The tournament will use the 100 point RKS scale for speaker points. Judges should refrain from giving the same points to speakers in the same round.
The teams advancing to the elimination rounds will be determined by the following criteria. The top half of the Open teams will clear. Each team must have a winning record (4 or more wins) in order to advance, even if that requirement results in a total that is slightly less than half of all Open teams. The maximum number of Open teams advancing will be 32. We will also hold an appropriate number of elimination rounds in Junior Varsity and Novice divisions. Seeding for elimination rounds will be determined using win-loss record, then opposition wins, then adjusted speaker points, total speaker points, double adjusted speaker points, adjusted ranks, total ranks, and then other criteria if necessary.
ALTERNATE USE TIME: The regular time limits of 9 minutes per constructive speech and 6 minutes per rebuttal will be observed for speech times. Once again the tournament will use alternate use prep time rules for all debates each team will have sixteen (16) minutes total to use for cross-examination and/or preparation. Cross-examination periods are allowed only after constructive speeches. Coaches should inform their debaters about the proper use of alternate use prep time prior to the tournament.
TAB ROOM and TOURNAMENT ADMINISTRATION: Dr. Jeff Jarman of Wichita State University has agreed to join us in Dallas to direct the operations of the tabulation room. Justin Green of Kansas State University will also assist in the tab room. Dr. Jarman, Mr. Green and the UT Dallas coaching staff will resolve any tournament administration problems that arise. Current and former UT Dallas students will be available throughout the tournament to run ballots, give directions and, and generally provide any needed assistance.
ENTRY FEES: Freedom isnt free and neither is the Fear and Loathing in Dallas debate tournament. The entry fees will be $150 per covered team, regardless of division. One team requires four (4) rounds of judging. Two teams require seven (7) rounds of judging. Uncovered teams will be assessed an additional fee of $40 per uncovered round. Please send your qualified judges instead of just paying the extra fee if possible. The UT Dallas debate team does not even come close to making a profit on this tournament. In fact, the hosting of the tournament generates a financial loss and some stern questions from our Dean. We believe that our tournament will provide both high quality hospitality and strong competition relative to total costs of attendance.
We also politely request that all teams competing at the tournament update their affirmative and negative information on the open case list system by 12 noon on Friday, January 8, 2010.
Cash is preferred. However you can make your checks payable to The University of Texas at Dallas. Our Universitys Federal Tax ID number is 75-1305566 if your institution requires such information. Our mailing address:
UT Dallas Debate Team
Department of Undergraduate Education
P.O. Box 830688, GC 14
Richardson, Texas 75083-0688
We once again will go to great lengths to make special accommodations for teams with limited financial resources please contact us in advance for details. We attempt to ensure that entry fees will not exclude a school from participating in our Fear and Loathing tournament. We want to share our Fear and Loathing with everyone.
HOSPITALITY: We take this extremely seriously. We are committed to providing a tournament experience that you will find both competitive and entertaining. We hope to earn a spot on your annual travel schedule. Those who have attended in the past have almost always returned with enthusiasm
There will be a reception for all coaches during registration during the evening of the Friday, January 9 at the Crowne Plaza Suites. There will also be a large tournament-wide survivors reception for all participants during the evening of Monday, January 11. We invite all debaters, coaches, and judges to stay for the reception. Those who have remained in Dallas for the Monday night reception have not been disappointed.
Lunches will be provided to all tournament participants on Saturday, January 9 and Sunday, January 10. Breakfast will also be provided at the campus on those days. Please indicate any special dietary needs when entering the tournament. We will also provide some light snacks on Sunday evening prior to first elimination round. The vast majority of last year's participants found the provided food and beverages to be high quality.
Also, the city of Dallas has many excellent options for dining and entertainment. A packet full of suggestions will be provided to all teams at registration. Scott and Chris are also available to answer your questions we know where to go in Big D.
JUDGING: One pillar of a successful tournament is quality judging so please bring your least sketchy judges. Each team seeking to enter should provide a qualified judge who will be available to judge at least four (4) preliminary rounds and who will comply with tournament rules. A judge covering the requirements for two teams should prepare to judge seven (7) preliminary debates. A qualified judge is a currently active coach, graduate student, or former college debater. EVERY judge will be committed through the octafinal debates in the Open division.
We will have very, very few hired judges available this year. Please inform the UT Dallas staff at least one week in advance if your team will need to pay the fee for uncovered teams. Monies gained by such fees will go towards to the hiring of qualified judges and the procurement of ether. Judges will be assigned on the basis of mutual preference. Teams will be allowed to strike a limited number of judges. The number of strikes will depend upon the size of the judging pool, the number of many sketchy people yall bring, and the number of sketchy people we hire.
Please, please, please indicate to the tournament administration if a judge cannot judge all three divisions. Please repeat any such limitation in person at registration. Judges assigned to a debate by the tab room will be responsible for submitting a correctly completed ballot at the end of that debate. Judges should not leave the tournament unless their commitment has been fulfilled.
DONT MESS WITH TEXAS: Any judge who is unable or unwilling to comply with these criteria should not register as a judge. Failure on the part of a judge to comply with these rules may result in a decision by the tab room staff and may also result in the top team from the judges school being removed from further participation in the tournament. Please do not enter unknown and/or sketchy judges for all seven round then have a highly preferred judge available for only one. That aint cool. And it makes it much more difficult for us to get highly preferred judges in every round to all teams, including your teams.
Directors should ensure that each and every judge has a judge philosophy statement posted in the Bruschke system by Tuesday, January 5, 2010. Any judge still without a judge philosophy statement by that deadline will be dropped from the tournament. The rounds originally assigned to that judge will be redistributed to other judges representing that squad.
HOST HOTEL INFORMATION: We strongly encourage all tournament participants to stay at the host hotel. Tournament registration, tournament receptions, and all rounds on Monday, January 12 will occur at the hotel. Please see the Hotel section below for detailed reservation information. The Crowne Plaza Suites is located just north of the Westin Park Central and the LBJ freeway. It is a quick, easy twelve-minute drive from the hotel to the UT Dallas campus.
Every room in the hotel is a suite. The rooms are quite large. The block rates are $80 for each double room and $75 for each king room. This rate will include internet access at no additional charge. The hotel offers ample free parking. While these rates are a slight increase over last seasons rates, this remains an exceptional value for this facility.
Those wishing to access the block rate should reserve rooms using the specific website provided http://www.cpdallas.com/ and use the code DEB when making reservations. Reservations can also be made over the telephone. We strongly encourage you to use the website reservation system in order to receive updates on the hotel and your reservation. While rooms may be available at the last minute, the hotel will only guarantee the block of rooms and the tournament rate for those reservations made before Friday, December 18, 2009. We suggest that your reserve your rooms as soon as possible. Rooms might be available after that date but room availability, room rates, and room type will not be guaranteed for those reservations made after December 18.
The host hotel has a very limited number of smoking rooms available. Please do not smoke in the common areas of the hotel. Please do not smoke in the non-smoking rooms.
Hotel Details:
Crowne Plaza Suites - Dallas Park Central
7800 Alpha Road
Dallas, TX 75240
Front Desk: (972) 233-7600
http://www.cpdallas.com/
http://www.crowneplaza.com/h/d/cp/1/en/hotel/daltx
Our hotel contact: Karlene Summerall
Her email: karlene.summerall at ihg.com
TRANSPORTATION: Dallas is easily accessible by ground or air. The tournament hotel is directly east of DFW airport and it a mere 30 minutes away. Use the North exit from DFW airport toward IH-635 and proceed East on IH-635. Exit at Coit Road. All major national rental agencies have operations at DFW airport. The UNT campus is roughly an hour drive from the UT Dallas campus. Teams competing at both tournaments will definitely need to change hotels. Unfortunately, we at UT Dallas will not be able to provide ground transportation and the hotel will not be able to provide anything beyond the most basic local service. Nor will UT Dallas be able to transport teams coming from the UNT tournament in Denton. Participating teams should definitely plan to provide their own transportation throughout the tournament. Major rental agencies such as Enterprise, Avis, and Hertz have offices at both airports. Those seeking to rent large vans might try Capps at http://www.cappsvanrental.com/
AUDIO and VIDEO RECORDING: All rounds (defined as the speeches of the participants) are open to registered tournament participants and may be electronically recorded for private educational use by tournament participants (registered coaches, debaters and helpers, and UT Dallas tournament staff) only. Public distribution of such recordings is expressly prohibited unless prior written consent of all people on the recording is obtained and unless prior written consent of the University of Texas at Dallas is obtained. Private sharing for educational use is permitted.
TOURNAMENT RULES: If you know us, then you know we love rules and we will enforce them.
1. The tournament will follow the CEDA guidelines on sexual harassment.
2. The topic for all debates will be the 2009-2010 NDT/CEDA policy debate topic.
3. Each judge obligated to judge a round will assignment a win to one and only one team and a loss to one and only one team. The judge will also rank each debater 1 to 4 and rate each debater 0-30 using quarter points. Each judge will have a maximum of 165 minutes from the official start time of the debate to record a decision for that debate. A judged assigned by the tab room to a particular debate will be responsible for the submission of a correctly completed ballot at the conclusion of that debate. Failure on the part of the judge to comply with these rules may result in a decision by the tab room staff and may also result in the top team from the judges school being removed from further participation in the tournament.
4. In order to enter and compete at the tournament, debate must be eligible according to CEDA and NDT guidelines. Each competitor should be currently enrolled undergraduate student (or, since the tournament occurs over the Winter Break, every competitor should have been officially enrolled during the previous semester and/or be officially enrolled in the upcoming semester).
5. Hybrid teams will be allowed to enter the tournament and are eligible to advance to the elimination rounds. Maverick debaters will not be allowed to enter the tournament and will not be allowed to compete a team consists of two and only two undergraduate students. Should one member of a team or both be or unable to debate in more than two rounds, that team will receive a loss for those rounds and will become ineligible for elimination rounds and awards.
6. While it is unlikely, one or more teams from UT Dallas might compete at the tournament. However no varsity UT Dallas team will compete in elimination rounds. If any UT Dallas teams are entered in the junior varsity or novice divisions, then they will be eligible to advance. No UT Dallas coach will determine judge placement for any round involving any UT Dallas participants.
7. Debaters, coaches, judges and all other tournament guests should not damage or remove any UT Dallas property. No smoking is allowing in any UT Dallas building. No food or drinks are allowed in any classroom. Please, please, please follow these rules. Please, please, please help us to keep the rooms and hallways clean. The room czars are reluctant to give us rooms even when they are in a good mood. And the debate tournament will be the only large event occurring on the campus in early January so the room inspectors will assume that someone involved with the debate community caused the damage. Many UT Dallas buildings are very new and we will not be allowed to use them in the future if damage occurs during the tournament.
8. Brackets will NOT be broken in elimination rounds. Teams from the same school that face each other in elimination rounds may either choose to declare a winning team or may choose to debate the round.
9. Unless the teams have met previously in the preliminary rounds, sides in elimination rounds will be determined by coin flip or an agreement by both teams. Please flip the coin and announce sides as soon as possible. We all want to expedite the rounds on Monday.
10. The eligibility rules for participation in the junior varsity and novice divisions will follow the CEDA standards.
AWARDS: They will be cool and you will enjoy them. Trust us, were experts. We will once again present the traveling Texas Two Step award to the Open Division team that gains the most preliminary wins at the two tournaments. R.J. Giglio and Nick Watts of the University of Oklahoma won the award last season with 12 total wins. Someone please remind Jackie to bring The Boots to us in January.
INFORMATION: We hope to make this seventh annual Fear and Loathing in Dallas Debate Tournament reach the high standard established by our previous tournaments. Please contact Chris Burk or Scott Herndon if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding the tournament. We look forward to once again welcoming the college debate community to Dallas.
Your lovely hosts,
THE UT DALLAS DEBATE TEAM
www.utdallas.edu/debate/
Christopher Burk
Director of Debate
crb01200 at utdallas.edu
Scott Herndon
Asssociate Director of Debate
sxh021200 at utdallas.edu
Justin Kirk
Assistant Coach
justinwkirk at gmail.com
Todd Jordan
Assistant Coach and Graduate Student
oldcrowtodd at gmail.com
Trevor Andreas
Assistant Coach
tandreas at gmail.com
Kuntal Cholera
Assistant Coach
kuntal_cholera at hotmail.com
UT DALLAS 2010 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
Friday, January 8 (Crowne Plaza Suites)
6:00 PM Tournament Registration and Coaches Reception
9:00 PM Tournament Registration Ends
10:00 PM Pairings for Rounds 1 and 2 release at hotel and on-line
Saturday, January 9 (UT Dallas campus)
7:30 AM Breakfast available
8:30 AM Round One (pre-set) start time (all rounds on campus)
11:00 AM Round Two (pre-set) start time
1:30 PM Lunch provided at campus
2:30 PM Round Three (high-high) start time
5:30 PM Round Four (high-low) start time
Sunday, January 10 (UT Dallas campus)
7:00 AM Pairings for Round Five released. Breakfast and coffee provided at coffee
8:00 AM Round Five (high-high) start time
11:00 AM Round Six (high-low) start time. Pairings based on results of all five rounds.
12:45 PM Lunch Provided
1:45 PM Pairings Released
2:15 PM Round Seven in Open (high-low, sides assigned by computer) start time
2:15 PM First elimination round in Junior Varsity and Novice divisions start time
4:45 PM Snacks provided
5:15 PM Pairings for Open Division Doubles Released (no round for JV & Novice)
6:00 PM Open Division Double Octafinal Rounds start time (no round for JV & Novice)
Monday, January 11 (all events occur at the Crowne Plaza Suites)
8:30 AM Pairings Released for Open Division Octafinals
8:30 AM Pairings Released for second novice & JV elimination rounds
9:30 AM Open Octafinal Rounds begin
9:30 AM Second Elimination Rounds in Novice & JV divisions begin
High Noon Awards Assembly
Afternoon Elimination rounds continue
Evening Tournament reception
Seventh Annual Fear and Loathing in Dallas
Invitation to the University of Texas at Dallas Intercollegiate Debate Tournament
Dear Colleagues,
We present the following conditional tournament. The University of Texas at Dallas Debate Team invites you to join us January 9-11, 2010 for the seventh annual Fear and Loathing in Dallas Intercollegiate Debate Tournament. Yes, somehow we still get to do this.
Our tournament will be the second half of the Texas Two Step. The University of North Texas will host the first half. Teams attending both tournaments will have Friday, January 8th as a day off to relocate, rest, and research.
We will offer debates in three divisions (open, junior varsity, and novice). We expect all three divisions to be large enough to remain distinct this season. However, we will collapse the Novice division into the Junior Varsity division if necessary. Please complete all entries by 12:00 noon on Wednesday, January 6, 2010. We will submit final orders for all food purchases that afternoon so correct information by the entry deadline is necessary. We will also need to close entries into order to begin the judge preference process. We definitely need final entries for both TEAMS and JUDGES by noon of January 6. Please use the famous Bruschke system for entering the teams and the judges. You can find that system here: http://commweb.fullerton.edu/jbruschke/web/Index.aspx
ENTRY LIMITS: UT Dallas is experiencing a shortage of suitable classrooms. Therefore the UT Dallas Debate Team must unfortunately impose an entry limit of ninety (100) total teams at this time. There is a good chance that we might be able to secure access to a few more rooms but we cannot guarantee it at this moment. So we must impose an entry cap. Entries will be first come, first serve regardless of division until we reach our cap. So please enter as soon as possible. If we do secure access to more rooms and raise the cap, we will send emails to inform everyone of the change.
FORMAT: There will be seven preliminary debates in the Open division with the tab room randomly assigning the sides to each team in round seven. The Junior Varsity and Novice divisions will have six preliminary debates. The schedule has changed slightly so be sure to examine the tournament schedule located at the end of this document.
The tournament will use the 100 point RKS scale for speaker points. Judges should refrain from giving the same points to speakers in the same round.
The teams advancing to the elimination rounds will be determined by the following criteria. The top half of the Open teams will clear. Each team must have a winning record (4 or more wins) in order to advance, even if that requirement results in a total that is slightly less than half of all Open teams. The maximum number of Open teams advancing will be 32. We will also hold an appropriate number of elimination rounds in Junior Varsity and Novice divisions. Seeding for elimination rounds will be determined using win-loss record, then opposition wins, then adjusted speaker points, total speaker points, double adjusted speaker points, adjusted ranks, total ranks, and then other criteria if necessary.
ALTERNATE USE TIME: The regular time limits of 9 minutes per constructive speech and 6 minutes per rebuttal will be observed for speech times. Once again the tournament will use alternate use prep time rules for all debates each team will have sixteen (16) minutes total to use for cross-examination and/or preparation. Cross-examination periods are allowed only after constructive speeches. Coaches should inform their debaters about the proper use of alternate use prep time prior to the tournament.
TAB ROOM and TOURNAMENT ADMINISTRATION: Dr. Jeff Jarman of Wichita State University has agreed to join us in Dallas to direct the operations of the tabulation room. Justin Green of Kansas State University will also assist in the tab room. Dr. Jarman, Mr. Green and the UT Dallas coaching staff will resolve any tournament administration problems that arise. Current and former UT Dallas students will be available throughout the tournament to run ballots, give directions and, and generally provide any needed assistance.
ENTRY FEES: Freedom isnt free and neither is the Fear and Loathing in Dallas debate tournament. The entry fees will be $150 per covered team, regardless of division. One team requires four (4) rounds of judging. Two teams require seven (7) rounds of judging. Uncovered teams will be assessed an additional fee of $40 per uncovered round. Please send your qualified judges instead of just paying the extra fee if possible. The UT Dallas debate team does not even come close to making a profit on this tournament. In fact, the hosting of the tournament generates a financial loss and some stern questions from our Dean. We believe that our tournament will provide both high quality hospitality and strong competition relative to total costs of attendance.
We also politely request that all teams competing at the tournament update their affirmative and negative information on the open case list system by 12 noon on Friday, January 8, 2010.
Cash is preferred. However you can make your checks payable to The University of Texas at Dallas. Our Universitys Federal Tax ID number is 75-1305566 if your institution requires such information. Our mailing address:
UT Dallas Debate Team
Department of Undergraduate Education
P.O. Box 830688, GC 14
Richardson, Texas 75083-0688
We once again will go to great lengths to make special accommodations for teams with limited financial resources please contact us in advance for details. We attempt to ensure that entry fees will not exclude a school from participating in our Fear and Loathing tournament. We want to share our Fear and Loathing with everyone.
HOSPITALITY: We take this extremely seriously. We are committed to providing a tournament experience that you will find both competitive and entertaining. We hope to earn a spot on your annual travel schedule. Those who have attended in the past have almost always returned with enthusiasm
There will be a reception for all coaches during registration during the evening of the Friday, January 9 at the Crowne Plaza Suites. There will also be a large tournament-wide survivors reception for all participants during the evening of Monday, January 11. We invite all debaters, coaches, and judges to stay for the reception. Those who have remained in Dallas for the Monday night reception have not been disappointed.
Lunches will be provided to all tournament participants on Saturday, January 9 and Sunday, January 10. Breakfast will also be provided at the campus on those days. Please indicate any special dietary needs when entering the tournament. We will also provide some light snacks on Sunday evening prior to first elimination round. The vast majority of last year's participants found the provided food and beverages to be high quality.
Also, the city of Dallas has many excellent options for dining and entertainment. A packet full of suggestions will be provided to all teams at registration. Scott and Chris are also available to answer your questions we know where to go in Big D.
JUDGING: One pillar of a successful tournament is quality judging so please bring your least sketchy judges. Each team seeking to enter should provide a qualified judge who will be available to judge at least four (4) preliminary rounds and who will comply with tournament rules. A judge covering the requirements for two teams should prepare to judge seven (7) preliminary debates. A qualified judge is a currently active coach, graduate student, or former college debater. EVERY judge will be committed through the octafinal debates in the Open division.
We will have very, very few hired judges available this year. Please inform the UT Dallas staff at least one week in advance if your team will need to pay the fee for uncovered teams. Monies gained by such fees will go towards to the hiring of qualified judges and the procurement of ether. Judges will be assigned on the basis of mutual preference. Teams will be allowed to strike a limited number of judges. The number of strikes will depend upon the size of the judging pool, the number of many sketchy people yall bring, and the number of sketchy people we hire.
Please, please, please indicate to the tournament administration if a judge cannot judge all three divisions. Please repeat any such limitation in person at registration. Judges assigned to a debate by the tab room will be responsible for submitting a correctly completed ballot at the end of that debate. Judges should not leave the tournament unless their commitment has been fulfilled.
DONT MESS WITH TEXAS: Any judge who is unable or unwilling to comply with these criteria should not register as a judge. Failure on the part of a judge to comply with these rules may result in a decision by the tab room staff and may also result in the top team from the judges school being removed from further participation in the tournament. Please do not enter unknown and/or sketchy judges for all seven round then have a highly preferred judge available for only one. That aint cool. And it makes it much more difficult for us to get highly preferred judges in every round to all teams, including your teams.
Directors should ensure that each and every judge has a judge philosophy statement posted in the Bruschke system by Tuesday, January 5, 2010. Any judge still without a judge philosophy statement by that deadline will be dropped from the tournament. The rounds originally assigned to that judge will be redistributed to other judges representing that squad.
HOST HOTEL INFORMATION: We strongly encourage all tournament participants to stay at the host hotel. Tournament registration, tournament receptions, and all rounds on Monday, January 12 will occur at the hotel. Please see the Hotel section below for detailed reservation information. The Crowne Plaza Suites is located just north of the Westin Park Central and the LBJ freeway. It is a quick, easy twelve-minute drive from the hotel to the UT Dallas campus.
Every room in the hotel is a suite. The rooms are quite large. The block rates are $80 for each double room and $75 for each king room. This rate will include internet access at no additional charge. The hotel offers ample free parking. While these rates are a slight increase over last seasons rates, this remains an exceptional value for this facility.
Those wishing to access the block rate should reserve rooms using the specific website provided http://www.cpdallas.com/ and use the code DEB when making reservations. Reservations can also be made over the telephone. We strongly encourage you to use the website reservation system in order to receive updates on the hotel and your reservation. While rooms may be available at the last minute, the hotel will only guarantee the block of rooms and the tournament rate for those reservations made before Friday, December 18, 2009. We suggest that your reserve your rooms as soon as possible. Rooms might be available after that date but room availability, room rates, and room type will not be guaranteed for those reservations made after December 18.
The host hotel has a very limited number of smoking rooms available. Please do not smoke in the common areas of the hotel. Please do not smoke in the non-smoking rooms.
Hotel Details:
Crowne Plaza Suites - Dallas Park Central
7800 Alpha Road
Dallas, TX 75240
Front Desk: (972) 233-7600
http://www.cpdallas.com/
http://www.crowneplaza.com/h/d/cp/1/en/hotel/daltx
Our hotel contact: Karlene Summerall
Her email: karlene.summerall at ihg.com
TRANSPORTATION: Dallas is easily accessible by ground or air. The tournament hotel is directly east of DFW airport and it a mere 30 minutes away. Use the North exit from DFW airport toward IH-635 and proceed East on IH-635. Exit at Coit Road. All major national rental agencies have operations at DFW airport. The UNT campus is roughly an hour drive from the UT Dallas campus. Teams competing at both tournaments will definitely need to change hotels. Unfortunately, we at UT Dallas will not be able to provide ground transportation and the hotel will not be able to provide anything beyond the most basic local service. Nor will UT Dallas be able to transport teams coming from the UNT tournament in Denton. Participating teams should definitely plan to provide their own transportation throughout the tournament. Major rental agencies such as Enterprise, Avis, and Hertz have offices at both airports. Those seeking to rent large vans might try Capps at http://www.cappsvanrental.com/
AUDIO and VIDEO RECORDING: All rounds (defined as the speeches of the participants) are open to registered tournament participants and may be electronically recorded for private educational use by tournament participants (registered coaches, debaters and helpers, and UT Dallas tournament staff) only. Public distribution of such recordings is expressly prohibited unless prior written consent of all people on the recording is obtained and unless prior written consent of the University of Texas at Dallas is obtained. Private sharing for educational use is permitted.
TOURNAMENT RULES: If you know us, then you know we love rules and we will enforce them.
1. The tournament will follow the CEDA guidelines on sexual harassment.
2. The topic for all debates will be the 2009-2010 NDT/CEDA policy debate topic.
3. Each judge obligated to judge a round will assignment a win to one and only one team and a loss to one and only one team. The judge will also rank each debater 1 to 4 and rate each debater 0-30 using quarter points. Each judge will have a maximum of 165 minutes from the official start time of the debate to record a decision for that debate. A judged assigned by the tab room to a particular debate will be responsible for the submission of a correctly completed ballot at the conclusion of that debate. Failure on the part of the judge to comply with these rules may result in a decision by the tab room staff and may also result in the top team from the judges school being removed from further participation in the tournament.
4. In order to enter and compete at the tournament, debate must be eligible according to CEDA and NDT guidelines. Each competitor should be currently enrolled undergraduate student (or, since the tournament occurs over the Winter Break, every competitor should have been officially enrolled during the previous semester and/or be officially enrolled in the upcoming semester).
5. Hybrid teams will be allowed to enter the tournament and are eligible to advance to the elimination rounds. Maverick debaters will not be allowed to enter the tournament and will not be allowed to compete a team consists of two and only two undergraduate students. Should one member of a team or both be or unable to debate in more than two rounds, that team will receive a loss for those rounds and will become ineligible for elimination rounds and awards.
6. While it is unlikely, one or more teams from UT Dallas might compete at the tournament. However no varsity UT Dallas team will compete in elimination rounds. If any UT Dallas teams are entered in the junior varsity or novice divisions, then they will be eligible to advance. No UT Dallas coach will determine judge placement for any round involving any UT Dallas participants.
7. Debaters, coaches, judges and all other tournament guests should not damage or remove any UT Dallas property. No smoking is allowing in any UT Dallas building. No food or drinks are allowed in any classroom. Please, please, please follow these rules. Please, please, please help us to keep the rooms and hallways clean. The room czars are reluctant to give us rooms even when they are in a good mood. And the debate tournament will be the only large event occurring on the campus in early January so the room inspectors will assume that someone involved with the debate community caused the damage. Many UT Dallas buildings are very new and we will not be allowed to use them in the future if damage occurs during the tournament.
8. Brackets will NOT be broken in elimination rounds. Teams from the same school that face each other in elimination rounds may either choose to declare a winning team or may choose to debate the round.
9. Unless the teams have met previously in the preliminary rounds, sides in elimination rounds will be determined by coin flip or an agreement by both teams. Please flip the coin and announce sides as soon as possible. We all want to expedite the rounds on Monday.
10. The eligibility rules for participation in the junior varsity and novice divisions will follow the CEDA standards.
AWARDS: They will be cool and you will enjoy them. Trust us, were experts. We will once again present the traveling Texas Two Step award to the Open Division team that gains the most preliminary wins at the two tournaments. R.J. Giglio and Nick Watts of the University of Oklahoma won the award last season with 12 total wins. Someone please remind Jackie to bring The Boots to us in January.
INFORMATION: We hope to make this seventh annual Fear and Loathing in Dallas Debate Tournament reach the high standard established by our previous tournaments. Please contact Chris Burk or Scott Herndon if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding the tournament. We look forward to once again welcoming the college debate community to Dallas.
Your lovely hosts,
THE UT DALLAS DEBATE TEAM
www.utdallas.edu/debate/
Christopher Burk
Director of Debate
crb01200 at utdallas.edu
Scott Herndon
Asssociate Director of Debate
sxh021200 at utdallas.edu
Justin Kirk
Assistant Coach
justinwkirk at gmail.com
Todd Jordan
Assistant Coach and Graduate Student
oldcrowtodd at gmail.com
Trevor Andreas
Assistant Coach
tandreas at gmail.com
Kuntal Cholera
Assistant Coach
kuntal_cholera at hotmail.com
UT DALLAS 2010 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
Friday, January 8 (Crowne Plaza Suites)
6:00 PM Tournament Registration and Coaches Reception
9:00 PM Tournament Registration Ends
10:00 PM Pairings for Rounds 1 and 2 release at hotel and on-line
Saturday, January 9 (UT Dallas campus)
7:30 AM Breakfast available
8:30 AM Round One (pre-set) start time (all rounds on campus)
11:00 AM Round Two (pre-set) start time
1:30 PM Lunch provided at campus
2:30 PM Round Three (high-high) start time
5:30 PM Round Four (high-low) start time
Sunday, January 10 (UT Dallas campus)
7:00 AM Pairings for Round Five released. Breakfast and coffee provided at coffee
8:00 AM Round Five (high-high) start time
11:00 AM Round Six (high-low) start time. Pairings based on results of all five rounds.
12:45 PM Lunch Provided
1:45 PM Pairings Released
2:15 PM Round Seven in Open (high-low, sides assigned by computer) start time
2:15 PM First elimination round in Junior Varsity and Novice divisions start time
4:45 PM Snacks provided
5:15 PM Pairings for Open Division Doubles Released (no round for JV & Novice)
6:00 PM Open Division Double Octafinal Rounds start time (no round for JV & Novice)
Monday, January 11 (all events occur at the Crowne Plaza Suites)
8:30 AM Pairings Released for Open Division Octafinals
8:30 AM Pairings Released for second novice & JV elimination rounds
9:30 AM Open Octafinal Rounds begin
9:30 AM Second Elimination Rounds in Novice & JV divisions begin
High Noon Awards Assembly
Afternoon Elimination rounds continue
Evening Tournament reception